Wednesday, 18 August 2010

I wanted an easy and tasty dessert this evening, so I thought I have a cake mix in the cupboard, so why not turn that into a chocolate cake. This cake mix is by far the best cake mix I have ever tried. The cake comes out extremely soft, and spongy, it's mouthwatering. You can either have it plain as it is, or you can turn it into a chocolate cake like I did, or even add frosting. It's good no matter what you do to it.

The box is called Rich'N moist White Cake, it is by J. F. Mills. I found mine in Asda where the Asian food section was. Click here to see the packaging.

Just follow the instructions on the back, but make sure if it says mix on whatever speed for what ever time, you do the exact thing. Otherwise you will either mix it for too long or too short and it will not achieve that consistency it needs for the cake to turn out as soft as it should.

I added 3 full tbsp of cocoa powder, and two extra tbsp of water. But only because I was craving for a chocolate cake, otherwise, leave it as it is. Its a perfect cake to make a birthday cake out or even cupcakes. I tried it once, and it was really good, but it will be very obvious in the texture and flavour that it was not home-made and that it came from a box.

I used a 9'' round cake tin, which I greased with butter and dusted with flour. Put it in the oven for 40min on 180 degrees. Some oven's cooking times vary, so always do the clean knife test. Stick a knife in the centre, if it comes out clean, it is ready, if not, add an extra 7min or less and check again. Do not over cook it, as soon as the knife is clean, it is done. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have this evening.

As it's Ramadan, I thought why not try something quick for dinner tonight because I was quite hungry and tired today. So I remembered something I had at my friend's house. I had made this before, but it had been such a long time ago. It's quick and easy, hardly takes any time, and it's filling.

In an oven proof dish, add pasta (dry, uncooked), turkey mince, cooked frozen vegetables, basil and parmesan cheese. Pour the Homepride Pasta Bake sauce over. Take the empty jar and fill up to the top of the label with cold water, close lid and shake well, pour over the pasta. Mix it all together. It is all written on the instructions on the jar, apart from the extras that I have added. On the jar it tells you how much pasta and maybe some meat to add, and to add water like I have described.

Once all mixed, put in the oven for roughly 15 min, take it out, give it a good mix so all the pasta soaks up the juices and goes soft. Put back in the oven for 10min. Take it out and check if the pasta is soft, if not and it looks a bit dry, add 1/4 cup water, mix and set back in the oven for another 10min. Once the pasta is cooked, or al dente, add the mozzarella cheese on top, put back in the oven until golden.

You can serves this with a nice salad, or garlic bread, or even both. Hope you enjoy :-)

Monday, 16 August 2010

This is a recipe from my all time favourite chef Giada De Laurentiis. I tried this for a few months ago with my friends, and they liked it too, although the chocolate chips were a bit much. I think the ice cream was so silky it just melted as soon as it hit your mouth, and the chocolate chips where too big. Next time I make this, I will add grated chocolate instead, so it all melts right away. Either way, here's the recipe. I hope you all try it, do not be scared of using cheese in an ice cream. It sounds strange, but trust me, Giada knows what she is talking about. This recipes is really good.

In a medium bowl whisk the ricotta and milk until smooth. Then add the simple syrup (it has to be cooled down first). Add vanilla extract and mix well. Pour your mixture into the ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's directions. (remember for most ice cream makers, the bowl has to be put in the freezer for 24 hours prior to making the ice cream)

Add the chocolate chips 10 minutes before you stop the ice cream maker, this is because if you add it earlier, it will sink to the bottom and you won't have it mixed properly and evenly. Anything that is left over, can be stored in the freezer. Enjoy! I know I did.

I haven't posted anything over the weekend mainly because I was busy with the family and I had a dinner get together with friends for Iftar. It was a lovely evening, with good food and laughter. I hope to be doing it again soon. Here is the recipe for the chicken I made. I hope you guys like it. It is my mum's recipe (hence the name), whenever I go visit my family, she makes me this chicken.

Wash and cut the chicken into portions. Put in an ovenproof dish. Add diced potatoes and onions. Mix all the herbs and seasoning in a small bowl and rub into chicken pieces well. Put chicken pieces skin down. Cook in oven on 200 degrees (centigrade). After one hour, turn chicken skin up and leave for roughly 20-25 min until the chicken is cooked and skin is crispy. The juices that the chicken gives off are really good with rice. You can serve this with plain rice or the rice I have pictured it with. (recipe below)

Mama's rice (similar to a biryani)

Rice:1 medium onion diced1 medium to largish potato, diced small1 tsp turmeric1/2 tsp salt3/4 tsp cumin4 cardamom pods or 1/2 tsp ground cardamom1/2 tsp cinnamon1 chicken stock cubeHandful of frozen peasFry onions till soft, put aside, fry potatoes till golden brown, add onions and peas, fry a minute or so, add all the spices apart from the stock cube. Fry for 30 sec, take off the heat. I use rice cooker, therefore I used the little cup provided with the rice cooker to measure my rice. I washed 4 cups (the little cup that comes with rice cooker) added it to the rice cooker, added 5 1/2 cups water (same little cup). Added the onion, potato and spice mixture. Then turned it on. As soon as the water got hot I crumbled in the stock cube, mixed well and let the rice cooker do all the work. (1 rice cooker cup is 3/4 of a normal cup measurement).

About Me

A mummy of two beautiful children...meaning whenever I have time, I try new things. Whether it is cooking, styling my hair, doing my nails, make-up, sewing...anything! You name it, and I will have tried to learn about it or tried it myself. You will eventually see what I mean through my blog.